No time for pity
by SasukeUchihaPHMeitanteilover
Summary: What did Jack really think as he held Glen's head in his arms? Was he mournful, mocking?Find out.


**A/N:Just a little one-shot on Jack's feelings during Retrace 78-beyond. I feel he is hated too easily when he is a complex character that deserves to be explored some more. **

* * *

Jack Vessalius stared at the wall of blood around him. Alice's room was destroyed; her dolls hung off of the shelves, some of them broken and staring at him with empty eyes, some cursed him out for killing their precious Alice.

His arm was still bleeding from where she had stabbed him with her scissors shortly before she had taken her own life, and with it the only hope he ever had of getting his one true love back. He would never see that black-haired, ruby-eyed woman of his dreams ever again, see her smile.

She was lying there, dead, with tears in her eyes, and her blue dress-that of _innocence-_was stained deep red by the crimson of sin that had now festered in her body. She had willingly participated in a horrible deed-Alyss had, the white-haired angel he loved so much, not the black-haired one-the one who was selfish and spoiled and mean.

He had seen her get back up. Apparently, she had merged with Oz, thus depriving Oz of his powers and his body and kicking him into Jack's body. He could still hear his pitiful sobs and whimpers from inside his mind. Tears spilled out of his crimson eyes as he cursed and screamed over his lost Alice, his dear Alice.

He wondered why he wasn't crying over her. Why wasn't he? She had ruined everything, and now Jack had no chance of reuniting Lacie with the real world ever again. Thus, he had lost his chance to get her again. How could Alice have done _such _a thing, anyway? She would have been able to see her precious mother. Shouldn't Alice have been just as excited about seeing her mother as Jack was?

Suddenly, a voice entered his mind as he stared at her-one aside from the whimpering B-rabbit. God, how his screams rang through his ears, almost making him feel pity for the creature. How could he have done this to an innocent doll, anyway?

"_Alice...I want her back. Alice, Alice...it's all your fault! Bring her back!"_

_**Shut up, you miserable creature. **_

_"Alice! You killed her, you miserable human!" _

_**I said, shut up. **_

_ALICE, HELP ME!_

_**SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE SUCH A DISGUSTING CREATURE! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DO WHAT YOUR MASTER TELLS YOU TO AND STOP WHINING OVER THAT GIRL? **_

* * *

Jack stopped arguing with the now sobbing Oz when he heard Revis's voice enter his mind.

**"Oh, and Lacie wanted me to tell you this. When she dies, she wants you to look after her daughters, and just make sure they live a normal life." **

* * *

Jack's eyes widened in horror. _What have I done? _He stared at the blood on his hands in sheer terror. He'd used Alice's best friend as a tool for destruction against his will, he had destroyed lots of innocent people, something of which Lacie would have opposed. He'd committed murder in her name and had also caused the death of one of her daughters and most likely the Intention would never be the same again. Now the Intention would no longer be able to see him.

Oz would never have a real form again. He needed to find Oswald.

Vincent wandered in then. "Oh, Jack, you're all covered with blood! Alice, is she okay? She is okay, isn't she?" The little sociopath seemed to be actually concerned about Alice for once. Jack raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He was too shocked by what had just happened.

"Jack, are you all right? Did you fight Glen or something? Gilbert was cut! Did Glen cut Gil?"

"N-No...I-I...no, Glen stabbed Gilbert." Jack said as tears came to his eyes.

"Jack, why are you crying?" Vincent asked before rushing to his side.

"It's nothing, Vincent." Jack said before he carried him out of the tower.

"I'm going to find Gil!" Vincent cried. He paused and turned to stare at Jack. "Is Alice really dead?"

Jack nodded slowly. Much to his surprise, he thought he saw pity rise up in Vincent's eyes.

"You know, even though I hated her, I never wanted her to die. What have you done, Jack?" Vincent said accusingly.

"Wait! I didn't do anything!" Jack cried, but Vincent had already run off, leaving him all alone. Jack felt his emerald eyes widen as a realization came over him. "Glen!" He cried as he raced toward Oswald, only to realize that he saw Oswald's head lying there, lifeless.

"That's right...I used Oz's power to kill you because you were going to kill Alice...or whatever twisted excuse I was going to give you. I-I..." He cradled Glen's head in his arms and recalled all the times he had spent with him. "...killed my best friend. How could I have been so foolish?" He cried as he sobbed into his best friend's corpse.

Little did he know that more torment awaited him. "What kind of cursed life must I lead? First my mother hates me, now I'm doomed to repeat time over and over?" Jack thought as he watched his slowly de-aging body.

"Arthur, that's why you must not let anyone see me."

Arthur seemed shocked, but Jack knew he was a kind and genuinely loving man. Surely he would hide a reject like him from society. Surely this was the appropriate way to atone for his sins. However, anytime he would reach his real age, it would begin again. He wasn't sure he would even survive this time around.

* * *

He noticed a man with a hat walking in the snow. He approached him slowly. "Please, don't go," He said.

The man turned to face him. "Who are you?" He said coldly. In his arms was a bundle.

"Is that your child?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask? It is my son, Oz Vessalius."

"Your child is stillborn, isn't he?" Jack asked softly.

"How do you know that?" The man protested.

"Because, unless you were holding him like that, it wouldn't be, would it? You're only trying to spare your wife the pain and agony of her son's death."

"Yes."

"Please, just listen to me. My name is Jack Vessalius-"

"You're supposed to be dead, aren't you?" The man said warily.

"You're Zai Vessalius, aren't you? I have been living for over a hundred years. The Abyss rejected my soul,and now I'm going through a process where my whole body is being eroded away completely. I'm sure there won't be anything left of me. Please, there's a chain that sleeps in my body called B-rabbit, or Oz the B-rabbit. I used Oz to destroy the chains that supported the world a hundred years ago, against his will, of course."

"Aren't you a nice guy?"

Obviously, Jack could tell that the man didn't like him. _It _could have his body if _it _wanted. "Please, let him have control of it. Let him live a normal life for a while. Take him in as your son. Allow Oz the B-rabbit into your family. Eventually, he's going to be the only one in control of my body. There won't be anything left of me. It's atonement for what I've done wrong."

Zai huffed. "Very well. However, don't let that thing near me."

"Oh, and...try to treat Oz with a bit of respect...at least, better than I treated him. I caused him to lose the one person precious to him, I broke a lot of promises. I can't afford to be seen as human anymore."

Zai simpered slightly. "You've offered me enough evidence. However, how do I know B-rabbit won't try and attack?"

"He's not that sort of chain. Unlike me, he is a kind soul. I am not. If ever he causes trouble for you, you can kill him and spare both of us from this suffering."

"Very well."

* * *

Everything went just as he predicted. Oz, having lost all his memories due to Alice's intervention, became Oz Vessalius, a human with no memory of himself, of his self as B-rabbit. Jack just watched Oz as he lived his life with his sister and his servant, never once realizing that his life was a lie.

Jack just watched over him, Oz, his other self. Like it or not, Oz had become part of him, so now they would all have to share this burden together. All of them would. Oz Vessalius, Jack, B-rabbit, and Alice. All of them would have to share it.


End file.
